What advice would you give to your teenage self?

I open the door and there is a woman in my closet. She raises a finger to her lips to signal me, “Hush,” as my mouth opens in a silent scream.

“Your mom doesn’t know I’m here, Cassie,” she says as she steps out of the closet. “You won’t get in trouble.” Her eyes pan briefly to my desk. “It’s the night before the big test. Oh, you hated that class so much. You’ll be punished for getting a stupid B+ in that class. What a tragedy. The only class where you don’t get an A.”

“Who are you?” I ask in a voice one notch above a whisper.

“I am Cassie Chen,” says the woman.

I stare at her in confusion. “But I’m Cassie.”

“It won’t always be this bad,” she says. “You’ll finish high school, move out, get a job, and have a fabulous career. You won’t be a doctor or lawyer, though. Ha! Do what you love, not what your mom wants you to be.”

“My mom will stop calling me a failure? She’ll be proud of me?”

“Oh no,” the woman says nonchalantly. “She’s not going to change. But you will. You’ll get out of here. This life-“ she waves her arm to encompass the bedroom that is my prison – “won’t last forever.” She grabs my hand and sits us down on the bed.

“You’re married?” I ask. Her rings sparkled when she waved her hand. She looks like she’s thirty. Beautiful makeup, earrings, and necklace. Stuff I’m not allowed to wear. I see her for the first time. She does look like me. But older.

“I’m forty,” she says. “We have a nice house and a good career. Mom doesn’t approve. Of course, but she can’t do much now. That’s not what I came here to tell you. I came here to say that I believe in you. You’re smart and talented and–”

I burst into tears. No one has ever said that before.

“I know, I know,” the woman says, and hugs me. “I need to go now. Mom is coming.”

“Am I going to see you again?”

“Of course. One day you’ll look in the mirror and you’ll see me. You’ll make it through this.” She returns to the closet. “Gotta go back to my own time. Remember I love you.” She blows me a kiss and shuts the door.

I hear footsteps coming down the hallway, but I rush to the closet and open it. My future self is gone but I can’t stop smiling.

How to change the world: if you could be somebody else for a day

Let’s dive into the realm of sci-fiction and fantasy! We’ll have a little fun with it and change the world. Really! If I could be somebody else for a day, I would switch places with my mentor and use his influence to effect some changes. Now, what mischief would I be up to? Let me explain.

Daily writing prompt
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
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To start, here’s some context on my mentor: without it, it is hard to see why I’m not following in his footsteps. He was my business mentor, and he owned a lot of fancy real estate: a condo with a beautiful view and a house with all the toys he collected. For example, luxury cars, movie collectibles that cost $500 to $5000, $15,000 purses for his wife, and a very large fish tank–the size you see in restaurants and hotels. 

If I switched places with him for a day, I would find myself in a house with a courtyard and two full-size kitchens. I would have a personal chef, which is great for someone like me who doesn’t like to cook fancy meals. But also for me, it’s too much luxury in these tough times. I’m not living in this house for a year, just for twenty-four hours.

So in that time, I want to exert some maximum clout. Here it is. I’d hop onto his social media channels with his millions of followers. (They don’t know that he’s not himself today.) I’d stream live and spread my message. It’s not his standard message of I’m rich and successful; learn from me and you’ll be successful too.

I’ll change things. I’d like to use my mentor’s social media channels to tell his followers to do something nice for someone, something small like holding open a door. Or something big like donating money to a charity, or volunteering at an organization. 

Imagine how wide that message would spread if each of those millions of people did something nice and the recipient of that kindness paid it forward. That’s double a million nice acts. And poof, after midnight when I’m me again and my mentor is himself again, that message will still be out there, making the world a better place. It won’t solve the bigger problems, but maybe a small act of kindness will bring a little smile to someone’s day.

Note: The apple in the picture is a nod to teachers mentoring the next generation – paying something forward.

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Work-Life Balance: Do you enjoy your job?

Those who love their job as if it were a hobby are lucky. This is even more true if their income is their ideal amount and their coworkers are great to be around. I certainly think of my job as something I could do even while on vacation and not consider myself as working. However, we need to draw the line somewhere–at what point is work intruding on personal time?

Daily writing prompt
Do you enjoy your job?
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Let’s weigh in on the question: What is work-life balance? How do you define it? Whether you have a work-life balance and whether you view clear boundaries between the two depends on how much you love your job. Here are some rare points of view to consider.

Remote work has made it easier to blend home life and work life into one room (or house). Employers and clients may have the expectation that you’ll respond to messages or complete work tasks between 9 a.m. to … well, 9 a.m. the next morning. 

As someone who manages projects, I’m answering work messages from morning til evening and on the weekends sometimes. Apps on smartphones have made it easier than ever to blur the lines between the office and personal time as we receive notifications even when away from the office.

The constant plug-in to workplace communication and work tasks can be exhausting. People need a break from work to recharge and return to their tasks with fresh eyes. But is it bad to blend work and home life together?

Some people love their career enough that working is as enjoyable as watching Netflix or playing video games. I’ve met some of these people (so they do exist).  

If you enjoy your work as much as you’d enjoy a hobby, then is working extra hours synonymous with workaholicism or overachieving? Does it make a difference whether you’re designing a graphic for a client or painting a picture to hang on your wall?

Some self-employed people live in their business. They are always reading or watching videos for self-improvement, or brainstorming new ways to increase their income or expand their products and services. Would this be considered overworking? It depends.

Everyone should be learning new things, whether it is a new hobby, new skill, or general-interest knowledge. People challenge themselves with fitness goals, reading goals, or social goals. How is investing more time in your career or business any different, if you love what you do, and if you still have time for friends and family?

If you enjoy what you do, then perhaps a job or business is no different than investing time and energy in a hobby or pastime. With this perspective, would work-life balance be… “balanced”? 

Of course, whether you have a spouse or children affects how much time you need away from work. If you enjoy traveling or socializing with friends, these interests also affect how much time you need to recharge from work. And of course, if you’re an introvert who prefers more “me time” away from your work and coworkers, that’s important too.

What are your thoughts on work-life balance if you have a job or career that you love?

Would you prefer a long boring life or a short adventurous one?

Facing a pack of wolves while on a hike, climbing up a mountain in subzero temperatures, chasing dangerous criminals, investing in the stock market… these are all examples of a lifestyle a writer would prefer to experience from behind a laptop. The question of lifestyle preferences is what got me thinking: would you prefer a long, boring life or a short, adventurous one?

Daily writing prompt
What bores you?
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The answer to that question, of course, depends on the answer to another question: what bores you? As you know, I’m a writer, so I get excited over a new book to read, and I’m happy when I have the perfect cup of tea to enjoy during a quiet afternoon. I prefer to read about other people’s adventures exploring the Amazon Rainforest, crossing the North Sea, or discovering who (or what) lives in that haunted house across the street.

There is a line in the movie Troy which I don’t remember word for word, but it goes something like this: Achilles’s mother says if he doesn’t fight at Troy, he can have a family and his children and grandchildren will remember him for a few generations before his name disappears. He can have a long, predictable life. If he fights at Troy, he will die young but he will be remembered for thousands of years as a gallant soldier and hero.

Some people want to take risks to do what they love, such as climbing Mount Everest, traveling to risky destinations around the world, or participating in risky sports.

Some people can’t take risks or do whatever they want because they have children, a spouse, or aging parents who depend on them. Sometimes the choice is ours, and sometimes it isn’t, depending on our life situation. People with responsibilities need to play it safe. They can’t risk their savings on cryptocurrency or invest thousands of dollars in a new startup company.

What one person thinks of as a boring life, another person does not. We don’t know what challenges another person is facing, such as disabilities that are invisible to us. Or a long-term illness. That reclusive neighbor who is always at home might be dealing with trauma, and it is a huge achievement just to go out with a few friends.

Some lives are cut short as a result of an accident or illness. But if they had a good life and they fought a good fight to keep going, it’s still a great life. Sometimes you don’t get to choose.

So is it better to live a long, boring life or a short and adventurous one? This would depend on what you want out of life. What is boring to you? What is fulfilling to you? Either choice is good. If you can look back on your life with a smile, then you’ve done well.

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How to Find True Friends: One of the Best Gifts I Ever Received

Daily writing prompt
Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.
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One of the best gifts I ever received was a bottomless wallet. When I first got it, I thought the money inside it was the best thing in the world, but instead, I discovered what the real gift was.

One day, I found an abandoned wallet on the street and opened it. Nothing was inside. My friend, standing across from me, said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a thousand dollars in there?” 

“Yes, but it’s empty,” I said, opening the wallet again to show her, and saw several bills inside. Hundreds of hundred dollar bills, totaling a thousand dollars. “I can’t believe it!” I exclaimed. 

“It’s magic!” My friend took the money out of my hand. “I’m buying a purse and some jewelry,” she said. “I can finally afford to!” And she ran off.

“Hey, wait for us!” I said. Stunned, I stared at the empty wallet in my hand.

“What if there’s a hundred-dollar bill in there?” My other friend was still standing around.

“No way.”

She took the wallet from my hand, opened it, and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. 

“Maybe you should ask for more money,” I said.

“No, this is enough,” she smiled. “Want to go get some food? Let’s celebrate our good luck with a fancy dinner,” she said.